It might be overly optimistic to expect Republicans and Demo-crats to agree to individually pass some key elements of President Obama’s defeated jobs legislation.

But to accept the alternative perspective, that there’s no way this Democrat running for re-election is ever going to get Republican support, would be demoralizing. The public is desperate for bipartisanship — on anything.

Was it a dream, or wasn’t there a time in America when lawmakers who considered themselves statesmen could be counted on to put politics aside to vote in the public’s best interest? If the jobs bill had flaws, there was no serious negotiation to fix them.

Instead, Democrats accused Republicans of not wanting the economy to improve because that would help Obama, while Republicans accused Democrats of wanting Republicans to kill the jobs bill so they could be blamed for high unemployment rates.

What has this gamesmanship cost? Unless approved individually, proposals that could have helped millions of people weather the current economy have fallen victim to political posturing.

The Senate vote that doomed the package fell strictly along partisan lines, with the Republicans and two Democrats who face tough re-election contests in conservative states voting against it.

The cerebral president in recent weeks has been urged to be more combative, but it’s not fighting words that most Americans are craving. That’s almost all they’re hearing from Demo-crats and Republicans, and they have had enough. People need jobs, preferably without the politics.